Watkins joins Eagles' walking wounded

PHILADELPHIA – Guard Danny Watkins exited practice Wednesday afternoon with an unspecified chest issue, raising the slight possibility of a fourth lineup change in five weeks for the Eagles.

This is where it gets weird.

The talk around the locker room was that King Dunlap, who lost the starting left tackle job after straining a hamstring, got snaps at right guard, where Watkins has started 16 straight games.

If Dunlap got the nod at guard it would be the fourth starting lineup change for the Eagles, including center Dallas Reynolds. The fifth, if you factor in the loss of Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters to a torn Achilles’ tendon.

Demetress Bell likely is the left tackle for at least another week, having earned praise from Eagles head coach Andy Reid.

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“The positive is that Bell really played well in our game,” Reid said, a reference to the win over the Giants. “That buys me a little time to see how King’s doing.”

Bell would be smart not to take anything for granted as he lost the starting left tackle job to Dunlap late in the preseason. For one Wednesday Bell like it was his job again.

“Today I did at practice,” Bell said. “We’ll have to see about tomorrow.”

The last thing the Eagles need is a lineup change as they oppose the Steelers Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Steelers play defense a lot like the Cardinals, who blew up the A gaps on either side of Reynolds and tossed quarterback Michael Vick around like a ragdoll.

“They’re a very smart aggressive defense,” Herremans said. “Where they do have the veterans is at very crucial positions where they’re making decisions and playing their role. We’re going to probably see similar things we saw in Arizona. They’re going to do all sorts of stuff. They bring guys up the middle and make you block them.”

Lawrence Timmons (6-1, 234) and Larry Foote (6-1, 239) are the big blitzers along with LaMarr Woodley (6-2, 265). Veteran James Harrison (6-0, 242) is slated to be back this after missing time with a knee injury.

The Eagles were gashed on kickoff returns by the Giants as David Wilson averaged 36.2 yards on six opportunities.

“We’ve just got to win our one-on-one battles,” Anderson said. “We’ve got to have the right attitude. And we’ve got to be confident in making the plays.”

Reid said he cut linebacker Brian Rolle, who started 13 games for the Eagles, because “with what I was trying to get done here, it wasn’t the right fit.”

Rolle was chastised during one of Wilson’s runbacks. Subsequently the Eagles signed Adrian Moten, a special teams warrior six inches taller than Rolle.

“I watched a little bit of it,” Moten said of the game. “I saw a little bit of it. Trust me I’m hoping I can help change it. But I know one person can’t change it. The whole team, the whole special teams has to contribute.”

Defensive tackle Derek Landri (knee) and linebacker Akeem Jordan (hamstring) were held out of practice.

King Dunlap practiced. Reid seems to be in no hurry to get Dunlap back on the field having said Demetress Bell played well against the Giants.

Wide receiver Riley Cooper (collarbone) is healthy according to Reid, but his return from the surgery is a matter of “trusting it and feeling comfortable with it.”

Reid says the Steelers are similar to the Cardinals on both sides of ball. And for good reason. Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt and defensive coordinator Ray Horton are Pittsburgh imports.

The Steelers are healthy and coming off their bye week.

Harrison, safety Troy Polamalu and running back Rashard Mendenhall all are expected to return this weekend.

Head coach Mike Tomlin sounded less than enthused about the addition of Mendenhall, who hasn’t played since undergoing ACL surgery last January.

“He’s ready to play,” Tomlin said. “But being ready to play and performing are two different things. How he performs, how he acclimates himself to football will dictate kind of how we proceed from there.”

The oft-injured Mendenhall might want to treat every carry like it might be his last.

NOTES: Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger dismissed reports he was suffering from a sore rotator cuff. “It’s great, no issues,” Roethlisberger said on a conference call. “That happened early last year. It’s been great.” Then again, what was he going to say?… It was a long time ago but Vick is 1-0-1 versus the Steelers with five touchdown passes and one scoring run … The Steelers are coming off a loss. Check this out: They haven’t lost two or more games in a row since 2009, when they finished 9-7.